Methods, systems and apparatus for manufacturing paper are known in the state of the art. In a conventional system for making tissue paper, for example, the system typically includes three sections: a forming section, a pressing section and a drying section. In the forming section, paper pulp is provided continuously from a headbox to a felt. A forming roll thereafter removes much of the water content of the paper pulp as it is transported through the forming section via the felt. The initially made paper web is carried to a press section, whereby the water content of the paper pulp is further reduced to a desired level before it is transferred to a drying section. The paper web is loaded onto a dryer of the drying section to be dried, and thereafter creped to form the tissue paper.
While widely adopted and accepted in the industry, this conventional system has a few drawbacks and has room for improvement. A primary concern with regard to the conventional system comprising these three sections is the large amount of space required to accommodate the conventional system. Each section includes large rolls and/or presses. Moreover, due to their large sizes, they have to be spaced sufficiently apart from each other to avoid interference and provide ease of accessibility for maintenance. As a result of the separation, in turn this requires the felts to transport the paper pulp over certain distances from one section to the next section. During the course of this transport the paper pulp is freely positioned on the felt and must be kept adequately on the felt. A potential risk is that errors may happen during this transport. For example, parts of the paper pulp may become separated or loosened despite the measures in place or the paper pulp may become shifted on felt during the course of travel.
One conventional solution provides suction boxes along the transport path of the felt between neighbouring sections. Other solutions involve changing the angle of the pathway, usage of additional components, and different materials of the felt to aid the attachment of the paper pulp on the felt. However, with all these solutions more components and energy are required which increases the operation cost of these systems.
Therefore, there is a need in the field to provide a system that can ideally minimize the space required to accommodate the paper making system, can reduce energy and costs and can also alleviate some of the concerns while transporting the paper pulp.